Bill Text: FL S1780 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Emergency Drills in Public Schools

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Education [S1780 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S1780-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1780
       
       
        
       By Senator Cruz
       
       
       
       
       
       18-00480A-21                                          20211780__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to emergency drills in public schools;
    3         amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; revising district school
    4         board duties relating to fire drills and emergency
    5         drills for active shooter and hostage situations;
    6         expanding requirements for district school board
    7         procedures relating to drills for active shooter and
    8         hostage situations; requiring district school boards
    9         to establish procedures to provide advance
   10         notification of drills for active shooter and hostage
   11         situations to parents and to provide parents with an
   12         option to excuse their students from physical drills;
   13         requiring such procedures to allow certain students to
   14         elect to remain on school premises during physical
   15         drills and remain excused from the drills; providing
   16         an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
   21  1006.07, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is
   22  added to that subsection, to read:
   23         1006.07 District school board duties relating to student
   24  discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall
   25  provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the
   26  attendance and control of students at school, and for proper
   27  attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the
   28  welfare of students, including:
   29         (4) EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.—
   30         (a) Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures, in
   31  consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies, for
   32  fire drills and emergency drills for other and for actual
   33  emergencies, including, but not limited to, fires, natural
   34  disasters, active shooter and hostage situations, and bomb
   35  threats, for all students and faculty at all public schools of
   36  the district comprised of grades K-12.
   37         1.a.Public elementary schools shall conduct at least six
   38  fire drills and six emergency drills each school year.
   39         b. Four of the six fire drills must involve evacuating a
   40  building to a designated meeting location outside of the
   41  building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize
   42  drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active
   43  threats or assailants. Two of the six fire drills may constitute
   44  fire prevention training with content designed by the Division
   45  of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, but only
   46  after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred.
   47         c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active
   48  threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants,
   49  hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency
   50  drills must address natural disasters.
   51         2.a. Public middle and high schools shall conduct at least
   52  four fire drills and six emergency drills each school year.
   53         b. Three of the four fire drills must involve evacuating a
   54  building to a designated meeting location outside of the
   55  building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize
   56  drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active
   57  threats or assailants. One of the four fire drills may
   58  constitute fire prevention training with content designed by the
   59  Division of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education,
   60  but only after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred.
   61         c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active
   62  threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants,
   63  hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency
   64  drills must address natural disasters.
   65         3. All drills must be developmentally and age appropriate,
   66  consist of unique sets of circumstances that require faculty and
   67  students to consider the response to that specific threat, and
   68  be delivered using plain language.
   69         4. Drills for active shooter and hostage situations shall
   70  be conducted in accordance with developmentally appropriate and
   71  age-appropriate procedures at least as often as other emergency
   72  drills. Procedures relating to drills for active shooter and
   73  hostage situations must be developed through consultation with
   74  at least one mental health professional and be consistent with
   75  the best practice considerations provided by the National
   76  Association of School Psychologists. Law enforcement officers
   77  must be physically present and directly involved in the
   78  execution of all active shooter and hostage situation drills.
   79         5.a. District school board policies must shall include
   80  commonly used alarm system responses for specific types of
   81  emergencies and verification by each school that drills have
   82  been provided as required by law and fire protection codes. The
   83  emergency response policy must shall identify the individuals
   84  responsible for contacting the primary emergency response agency
   85  and the emergency response agency that is responsible for
   86  notifying the school district for each type of emergency.
   87         b. District school board policies must address the needs of
   88  exceptional education students.
   89         (g) Establish procedures to provide notification of drills
   90  for active shooter and hostage situations to a student’s parent
   91  before a drill occurs and to provide the parent with the option
   92  to excuse his or her student from any drills that require
   93  evacuation from a building. The procedures must also allow a
   94  student whose parent has excused him or her from a drill that
   95  requires evacuation from a building to elect to remain on the
   96  school premises during the drill and remain excused from the
   97  drill.
   98         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.

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